Where do you live compared to your family?

We live far away. It sucks sometimes. We miss out on a lot of things. Arnold's family lives in Alberta. When we lived in Edmonton it wasn't that bad. His parents were down south in Lacombe and his middle brother and his family were up north in Valleyview area. His youngest brother was in the process of moving up north. It was kind of nice to be in the middle of the family. Just a few hours to see one side, and a few hours to see the other side of the family. One of those things. When we moved away Kyler was just over a year old. We had 2 nieces up north who were/are as cute as ever. It was so sucky to know we wouldn't see them for a very long time. It's hard to take in sometimes. We left in 2006.

Our next visit to Alberta happen in 2008. We went out in August to visit and see family. I loved being around everyone again and I really loved meeting our newest family member (to us) our youngest niece. She was born in 2006 shortly after we left. She is a cutie!

Now that we are back and our next visit won't be this year (it would be nice to do every 2 years or so) it's hard to take in. I love my families. I love seeing the kids grow up, spending time with them, and getting to know everyone. Seeing changes from little kids each year is wonderful! What I find the hardest is not getting to have photos. I miss seeing their changes in the family and getting to know them.

This brings me to this super cool book. I was at the Faith Family Gifts and Book store a few weeks back and they were having an incredible sale on their books so I checked some out. I found a great one (and bought 3 copies) of how to care for newborns (hello Doula bus!) and this super cool one called Long Distance Grandma. It is so cool.

This book is meant for grandmas trying to stay in contact with their family members (grandchildren) of all ages but I am snagging SOOO many ideas. Not just for family members far away but for my kiddos.

When you are checking out the Contents section you see that this book is split into months. And it's American... haha. In the January section there are the following sections:

Say Cheese! ~ Fun with Photos
A New Year with Lots of Cheer ~ Chinese New Year
The Coming Attraction ~Hot Chocolate and Movie Night
Warm Up to a Good Book ~ January Book Selections
Hooray for the Red, White, and Blue! ~ Connecting with Grandchildren in the Military
Connecting Spiritually ~ Sharing Prayer Requests and Devotionals
Grand Tip of the Month ~ Make the New Year "Grand"
Recording the Legacy.

Every month continues on with about the same amount of sections in them. Each ends with a "Grand Tip of the Month" and a "Recording the Legacy" section.

What I love most about this book is that there are things to do with young kids, middle age kids and teens, even kids who have gone off to college or university. That means that I can get more use out of this book. I can use it now to send things to my young nieces but I can use it when they are older.

I wanted to give you a look at what April's looks like (since March is almost half way done)

"A kindergarten student told his teacher, "My grandma lives at the airport. We just go get her when we want her." ~~ Unknown

April

Brooks are babbling, blossoms are blooming, and buds are becoming full-sized leaves. All the earth is echoing the theme of new life. The drama of rebirth continues to unfold in flower beds throughout the land and on farms in the rural countryside. Your family may even be excitedly awaiting the birth of new pets. What a wonderful time to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior and the new life that Christ enables us to have!

When is Easter? ~~ Interesting Info on Easter Dates

(here is information on why Easter is when it is - some is really cool)

Connecting Spiritually ~~ Hands-On Easter Teaching Activities

Egg-cellent Scripture Sharing:

You can use Easter Eggs to teach your grandchildren the biblical message of Easter. Purchase a dozen plastic eggs and number the outside of the eggs from 1 to 12. Write the 12 Scripture references (see below) on small pieces of paper. Fill each egg with the corresponding verse and small object listed:

1 - Cotton ball sprayed with perfume (Matthew 26:6-13)
2 - Dime (Matthew 26: 14-16)
3 - Bread crust (Matthew 26:17-19)
4 - Olive in plastic wrap (Matthew 26:30, 36-46)
5 - Piece of paper with a lipstick kiss on it (Matthew 26: 47-68)
6 - Small, dried chicken bone (Matthew 26: 31-35, 69-75)
7 - Pieces of string or yarn and a clod of dirt (Matthew 27:1-10)
8 - Pieces of red cloth (Matthew 27:11-31)
9 - Two twigs tied with dental floss to form the shape of a cross, and 2 nails (Matthew 27:32-44)
10 - Piece of a sponge (Matthew 27: 45-56)
11 - Rock or marble (Matthew 27:57-65)
12 - Nothing (Matthew 28: 1-8)

Have your grandchildren place the eggs in a carton on their dinning-room table or where ever their family gets together. Twelve days before Easter they should open the first egg, read the Scripture passage and discuss the egg's relevance to the Easter story. Tell them to open one egg a day in order through Easter Sunday. Hearts will open with the newness of lie these eggs will foster.

****My favourite part is that the author also includes this:****

If you are pressed for time, Family Life Publishing has come out with a book and set of filled plastic eggs called "Resurrection Eggs ((C) 2002). Whichever way you choose, the importance is sharing the Resurrection story with your grand family.


The Angel Rolled the Stone Away: Resurrection rolls

If you will be visiting your grandchildren for Easter, this is a great activity to do together. It's delicious way to celebrate the Resurrection!

1 tube of crescent rolls
Melted margarine
large marshmallows
cinnamon
sugar

Preheat oven to 350F Help grandchildren to wash their hands before working with food.

Place a sheet of wax paper before each grandchild to use as a work surface. Hand each grandchild a triangle of crescent roll. Tell them that this represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in when He was laid in the tomb. Give each grandchild a marshmallow to represent Jesus.

Place a bowl with (warm not hot) melted margarine in front of your grandchildren and let them dip their marshmallow in it. Explain that the margarine represents the oil that was used to protect and preserve Jesus' body.

Prepare another bowl with cinnamon and sugar. Let each grandchild roll the marshmallow representing Jesus in the mixture. Tell them the cinnamon and sugar represents the species that were used to anoint Jesus's body for burial.

Wrap the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll. Pinch the sides together, making sure that the dough is completely sealed. Let this step represent the wrapping of Jesus's body after his death.

Place the wrapped marshmallows on a cookie sheet and place in the oven. Bake 10 to 12 minutes at 350F. The oven represents the tomb, while the baking tie symbolizes the three days that Christ was in the tomb.

When the rolls have cooled slightly, have the grandchildren open their rolls (grave cloth). They will discover that the marshmallow(representing Jesus) is gone. Christ has risen!

****Isn't' that cool?!?!?! I want to do it with my kids.****

The next sections include ones called Some Grand-Bunny loves Me ~~ Crafty Ideas for Younger Grand kids where you make clothes for your grandchildren, knit or crochet for someone, and other ways to create memories. They include:

~~Mail a cake mix, can of icing, Easter cupcake papers, and some jellybeans. Enlist Mom and Dad's help to bake cupcakes with the grand kids. Sometimes, half the battle is having the supplies available. Mom will appreciate not having to go out and purchase these items.
~~E'mail an electronic Easter Card
~~Order an Easter cookie bouquet to be delivered to your grandchildren's home.
~~Write a bunny tale for your grandchildren.
~~Cut out wood crafts and send to your older grandchildren to paint
~~Be Creative and use your talents to connect with your grandchildren in your unique, memorable way.

Other sections in this month include: Easter Egg Hunt to Go ~~ Hosting a Long-Distance Egg Hunt; Easter Dinner via Long Distance ~~Sharing Traditional Recipes; Homemade noodles; Showers of Springtime Stories ~~ Books for Easter and Spring (what I love about this book is that she includes different books for different ages) Puddles, Puddles Everywhere! ~~ Rainy-Day Activities *Care packages *Noah's Ark *Promise Books and Letters; In God We Trust ~~ Military Grand parenting Tips; Grand Tip of the Month ~~ The Promise of Easter is Found in Every Rainbow!; Recording the Legacy.

All in all I'm so super excited to try and use this book to help me connect with my nieces out west, and even those who live 2 hours from here.

I hope this has inspired you a bit to connect with family members, even if they are just a few streets over.